Golden opportunity for a far pavilion

Simon Mordant
wants the new Australian pavilion at the Venice Biennale to be a broad church, even if it sits on a block more suited to a suburban house.

To that end the 2013 Venice Biennale commissioner says the process that should result in a new building by 2015 will be open to all comers, rather than being a design competition for star architects.

Venice is the world’s oldest and most prestigious art fair.

Mr Mordant admitted those involved had been inundated with calls from high-profile architects interested in the job within hours of the announcement last month by the Australia Council, which owns the pavilion site in the Venice Biennale Gardens, that it would replace the controversial Philip Cox temporary structure built in 1988.

A fairer and more transparent system had been decided on, however, after consultation with the AC and Royal Australian Institute of Architects, Mr Mordant said. That will allow any Australian architect to register interest in the project by lodging his or her credentials for the job.

A shortlist of practitioners drawn from those expressions of interest will be provided with a detailed design brief, the terms of which are yet to be decided. The AC hopes to appoint an architect by early next year.

Mr Mordant, co-chief executive of Greenhill Caliburn, has pledged $1 million towards the anticipated $4 million-$6 million cost. Some have questioned whether that sum, to be raised privately, would suffice, but he said he believed the budget was realistic.

“We’re not talking about building a monument," he said. “The site is 320 square metres and the current exhibition space is 200 square metres, with a seven-metre height restriction. It’s more the size of an average house.

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“We have been provided with a footprint by the Venetian authorities and we’re blessed to have it: ours was the last pavilion allowed to be built in the gardens and will be the first to be redeveloped, something the authorities are very excited about."

The real estate is gold in terms of international art diplomacy. “There are 29 countries within the gardens and 90 countries exhibiting in Venice," Mr Mordant said. “I don’t think people realise how lucky we are to have the site. If you’re outside the gardens, getting an audience is extremely difficult."

The required credentials involve a “demonstrated ability to design and project manage a public art space". The shortlist will be decided by a panel including the AC and the pavilion’s private investors represented by Mr Mordant, who is organising the fund-raising. No conversations had yet been had to that end, he said. “I expect to start having those conversations over the next month or two."